Too Late
by demoNiko
Summary: After completing her training, Sakura set off to look for Sasuke. But after what Sasuke assumed, she doubted she even wanted him to come back to Konoha. Inspired by Taylor Swift's White Horse.


**Hello there, everyone! I made this on such short notice because I wasn't done with the Serendipity chapter yet and I was worried my readers may actually get tired of waiting. It's a SasuSaku oneshot. This fic is inspired by the song White Horse by Taylor Swift. I hope you guys enjoy.**

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For a long time, Tsunade had trained Sakura to become the kunoichi she knew she could become. And now, after being recently freed from the Godaime's supervision, she has come to a point where she knew she could bring Sasuke back if she tried hard enough.

Uchiha Sasuke. The boy she'd a crush on for years. The one person she'd been trying to get to notice her. She never cared about anything or anyone else. But the night Sasuke had left her on that bench near the gate when he abandoned the village to seek more power from Orochimaru, that final blow he had landed on her apparently woke her up.

She didn't become a ninja to become closer to him. She became a shinobi not because Sasuke was in the academy. It was because she wanted to make her parents proud and she swore to her mother that she'd help out in their currently weakest point—finance. She swore that 1/3 of the money she would receive during their missions would be given to them no matter how much or how little she got.

She smiled, remembering a younger version of herself, standing in front of her mother with a fist in the air. Sakura was so young back then, so naïve to promise her mother something like that. After moving out of their house, she could only give ¼ of her mission reward because she had so much more to pay. But her mother never complained about the amount. She was never concerned about it in the first place.

The sound of dried leaves cracking beneath someone's footsteps had snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned around only to find nothing behind her. Maybe it was all in her head and the only reason she heard what she think she heard was to get her to focus once again on the reason she was wandering alone somewhere around the border of the Water country and not back in the village—she was looking for Uchiha Sasuke.

The night Tsunade had declared her training was done; Sakura packed her bags and left Konoha without even a goodbye to anyone. She was so sure her mother was worried sick about her and so were Naruto, Kakashi and her shishou. But she had no time to waste. She had overheard a group of hunter nins just the other night before she was freed from being an intern that Sasuke was somewhere near the Water country and it seemed like he'd be staying there for quite some time. Good for her because she could travel easier and faster after discovering new routes when Tsunade had taught her.

"Haruno?" A whisper echoed around the trees in a voice awfully familiar, especially to her.

She got into her battle position, her hands positioning over the kunai pouch underneath her apron. Sakura wasn't so sure she'd found just who she was looking for and she needed a confirmation first before she'd return to ease.

"Who's there?" She asked, her voice firm and demanding. "Come out right now." A silhouette flickered somewhere behind the trees that were planted in front of her. Just by looking at the shape of the hair, her suspicions had been confirmed. "Sasuke…"

Slowly, Sasuke started towards her and the ray of light the passed through the thick of the trees and vines. His head was kept down and he had one hand over his sword. He was wearing a robe similar to that to Orochimaru's when she'd last seen him. Only his trousers were violet and not black like the Sannin's. He seemed small within the comfort of his loose clothing but Sakura knew that was untrue. After two years of not seeing each other, she knew Sasuke was more than what he was when he left—and that was saying something about the young Uchiha. His eyes seemed to have changed the most.

Hate. Anger. Fury. All these, she could clearly see in his eyes. It was either he didn't bother to conceal it or they were too much for him to even try hiding them. Or maybe he didn't even know that his feelings about his older brother were shown clearly in his charcoal-tinted orbs.

"What happened..?" She asked under her breath. Her expression softened at the other thing she'd seen in his eyes. Exhaustion.

Sasuke took a step closer. "Have you come to offer yourself once more to help me, Sakura?" There was something about his tone that made Sakura's compassionate heart want to reach out for him. His voice was expectant—like he wanted her to say yes. "Have you come to keep me company and help me with revenge? Did you come to take me away from Orochimaru?"

The exhaustion in his eyes became a bit more dominant as he spoke. That was it, wasn't it? He was tired of being alone, wasn't he? He was worn out from traveling these places alone with the snake and his loyal servant.

"Sasuke.."

Just a couple of years ago, he thought, she was begging him to take her with him. She insisted that she could help him with revenge. He doubted it before but after what he'd seen during his stay with the evil third of the Sannin, he trusted himself not to underestimate anyone but never be afraid of them either. If she believed she could help him, would she still be willing to come with her? Even after leaving her out cold that night he'd left?

As he met her gaze, she saw power and strength in her jade orbs. He studied her as a whole for a while, taking note that she had kept her hair short. Her eyes were piercing and serious even though he knew that she was trying to be strong and serious with him. He could see improvement from training on her arms. She was fit and almost… Beautiful under the sunlight seeping through the trees.

"You're free to make the decision, Sakura," although he was stubborn to keep his pride in his voice, she knew he was wavering inside. "Come with me and help me with my revenge. All those nights you've wished to follow after me, now you won't have them. You won't have to remember that painful evening I've pushed you aside. I'll make sure you won't have to remember it if you help me with—"

"Gomen, Sasuke." Sakura interrupted. Her voice was stern. Is that what he still thought of her? That same old girl who was crushing on him? The same girl who was willing to become a missing nin for what she thought was true love? That she was still willing to come with him? "The night you left, so did my so-called feelings for you. I finally rediscovered the reason I chose to become a kunoichi. I would have left with you that night, you know? I would have been willing and if that happened, two years later, I doubt I'd regret it." She shook her head and gradually looked to the forest floor covered with dried leaves. "But you chose not to take me and I'm grateful because if you have, I wouldn't be the kunoichi I am now. Sasuke, I'm just here to ask you to come back to the village." She closed her eyes, hoping he'd understand.

"But—"

She snapped her eyes back open and looked at him. "You're two years too late to ask me the same question, Sasuke. You can't ask me to come with you anymore because my loyalty lies in the Hokage and Konoha itself." She gathered chakra in her fist as she asked him, "Sasuke, are you willing to come back to Konoha or would you still rather go after Itachi?"

His eyes twitched at the last word. "I do not have any other goals other than killing my brother. And that is something that I cannot do when I am affiliated with Konoha."

She didn't have to beg him anymore. She was done with begging. "Suit yourself," she muttered under her breath as she slammed a fist into the ground. Leaves flew around wildly as the earth cracked. Sasuke jumped on a tree branch just in time to avoid her attack. He once more looked at her handiwork and wondering if it really was Sakura who he'd just talked to.

He looked around, trying to find Sakura. But by the sense of it, she already left in the middle of the little earthquake she'd caused.

Sasuke was left alone to think now. She was right. He was too late and it was foolish of him to even think she'd want to come with him like before. He had no other choice now. He had to kill Orochimaru. He'd done enough to his body. He'd had enough of his lunatic experiments.

And meanwhile, as Sakura leaped from tree branch to tree branch and back to Konoha, she thought about his offer once more. To turn her back on Konoha and come live with him as a missing nin. It was tempting to say in the least but she knew were her heart and soul belonged and she wasn't going to throw that away for a white horse that came to his damsel two years later.

Not for Sasuke, in the least.


End file.
